Automatic ribbon control for calculating machines



April 28, 1936. R. A. CHRISTIAN AUTOMATIC RIBBON CONTROL FOR CALCULATING MACHINES s Sheets-Sheet '1 Filed Jan. 21, 1931 jwomtov Raymond A. Christian April 1936- v R. A. CHRISTIAN 2,038,716

AUTOMATIC RIBBON CONTROL FOR CALCULATING MACHINES Filed Jan. 21, 1951 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 FJ\ (animal Office. Tel- LEDGER CARD,

inimum infed in Red.

MESSAGE REGISTER RECORD.

WORK SHEET fral Office For Period Endi Gross Usage m gl mo MESSAGE REGISTER RECORD WORK SHEET Office For Period Endi Gross usag.

Raymond A. Christian A ril 28, 1936. R. A. CHRISTIAN AUTOMATIC RIBBON CONTROL FOR CALCULATING MACHINES Filed Jan. 21, 1931 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 3m entot Raymond A. Christian His Gttomeg Patented Apr. 28, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE AUTOMATIC RIBBON CONTROL FOR CALCULATING MACHINES Raymond A. Christian,

Dayton, Ohio, asslgnor to The National Cash Register Company, Dayton, Ohio, a corporation of Maryland Application January 21, 1931, Serial No. 510,109 12 Claims. (01. 197-157) and described in Letters Patent of the United States, No. 1,197,276, issued to Halcolm Ellis, September 8, 1916, and Patent No. 1,508,267 issued to Frederick W. Bernau, September 9, 1924.

An object of this invention is to provide novel means operable by a traveling carriage, for the automatic shifting of a multi-color ink ribbon, whereby selected items will be printed in a distinctive color.

With this and incidental objects in view, the

invention includes certain novel featuies of construction and combinations of parts, the essential elements of which are set forth in appended claims and a preferred form or embodiment of which is hereinafter described with reference to the drawings which accompany and form a part of this specification.

Of said drawings:

Fig. 1 is a top plan view, in reduced scale, showing the ink ribbon and the mechanism involved in shifting the same.

Fig. 2 is a left side elevation of the traveling carriage, and the mechanism involved in shifting and restoring the ink ribbon.

Fig. 3 is a side view taken from the right of 30 the machine showing the ribbon vibrating mechanism in its normal position.

Fig. 4 is a side elevation showing the main drive shaft and its connection to the printer arm shaft, as viewed from the right of the machine.

35 Fig. 5 is a facsimile of a portion of a monthly record card for one subscriber.

Fig. 6 is a facsimile of portions of work sheets for two consecutive months of several subscribers.

40 Fig. '7 is an isometric view of the carriage tabulating, or column selecting mechanism.

General description In the use of socalled accounting machines,

45 it is sometimes necessary to print an item in a distinctive manner or color, so that it can be readily recognized or distinguished from other items. This is accomplished in the following manner.

50 A two-colored inking ribbon known as a bichrom ribbon is used, the top half being black, the bottom half red, or any other distinctive color.

The conventional ribbon vibrating mechanism,

55 common to typewriters and. accounting machines of this type, is employed to lift the ribbon into the path of the type upon each operation of the machine, the ribbon always dropping below the printing line after an operation, so that the printing will be visible. Normally the black por- 5 tion or top half of the ribbon is lifted into position where the type will strike it. If it is desired to have an item printed in a distinctive color, say red,- the traveling carriage is arranged to shift the vibrating mechanism into a. position 10 where the lift of the ribbon will be increased, the red portion of the ribbon will be brought into position where the type will contact it. Thus, an item of distinctive color and easily distinguishable from other items will be printed. 15

This shifting mechanism is restored to its normal or black printing position at the end of each operation of the machine.

Dn'rAmm Dnscmr'rron 2 Ribbon vibrating mechanism Referring to Fig. 4, a link 30 shown in part, is pivotally connected at its lower end to a motor clutch (not shown), the upper end of said link being pivoted to a driving plate 3| secured to a shaft 32. Each time the machine is operated the driving plate 3|, due to its connection to the motor clutch by the link 30, is rocked, its first movement being counter-clockwise. A link 33 connects the plate 3| to an arm 34 pivoted on a stud 36 can'ied by a crank secured to a shaft 31. The arm 34 is held against a hub 40 by a. spring 4| which is stretched between two studs, one on the arm 34, and the other on the 35 crank 35.

Thus a flexible coupling, positive in a clockwise direction, is efiected. Through these connections it will be seen that the rocking movement of the driving plate 3| is transmitted to 40 the shaft 31, and to an arm 42 secured to the shaft 37, the first movement being clockwise.

A yoke 43 (Fig. 3), pivoted at 44 to atop frame 45, is rocked in unison with the arm 42 by being pivotally connected thereto by a link 46. A rib- 45 bon shifting arm 41 is pivoted at its upper end to a rocker pivoted on a screw stud 5| mounted in the top frame 45. The lower end of the arm 41 has two notches 52 and 53, adapted to engage, at different times, either a stud 54 or 55 carried 50 by an arm 56 of the yoke 43.

The forward end of the rocker 50 is slidably connected to a ribbon fork 51 (Figs. 1 and 3) by a stud 58 operating in a slot of the ribbon fork. Thus, as the rocker 50 'is oscillated, by the move- 55 ment of yoke 43 through the connecting arm 41, the ribbon fork 51 is raised and lowered vertically relatively to the usual platen 49.

When the slot 62 in shifting arm 41 engages the stud 54, the ribbon fork 51 is raised to a position where the top half or black part of a bichrome ribbon 60 will be struck by the type to make a black impression. When the slot 53 in the shifting arm 41 engages the stud 55, the ribbon fork 51, due to the increased leverage, is raised to a position where the bottom half of the bichrome ribbon 60 will be struck by the type 59 to make an impression of a distinctive color.

The forward end of a link 6| (Figs. 1 and 3) is pivoted to the shifting arm 41 and the other end is flexibly connected to a shaft 62 by a spring 63 mounted on a settable hub 64 secured to the shaft 62 by a set screw. Thus, by rocking the shaft 62 clockwise, the slot 52 in shifting arm 41 will be disengaged from stud 54, and slot 53 will engage stud 55, and vice versa. See the patents referred to above for a more detailed description.

Automatic control of ribbon for color printing A crank 65 (Figs. 1 and 2) secured to the shaft 62 has a slot cooperating with a stud 66 riveted in a setting link 61 which has a slidable bearing in the top frame 45. A stud 19 secured to the link 61 is adapted to be engaged by another stud 1| fast in an arm 12 which is pivotally mounted on the machine case. The arm 12 carries an antifriction roller 13 adapted to be engaged by a flexible tappet 14 pivotally mounted on a plate 15 secured to a traveling carriage 16 with screws. A spring 11 holds the tappet 14 against a stop stud 89 secured to the plate 15.

When the carriage 16 travels from right to left,

' Figs. 1 and 2, the tappet 14 is effective and engages the roll 13, forcing the arm 12 towards the rear of the machine, which causes the stud 1| to engage stud 19 and thereby force setting link 61 towards the rear of the machine. The stud 66, cooperating with the slot in crank 65, rocks the crank 65 and the shaft 62 counter-clockwise (Fig. 2) clockwise as viewed in Fig. 3. Referring to Fig. 3, when shaft 62 is rocked clockwise, the shifting arm 41 through the connecting link (it and spring 63 is rocked counter-clockwise, and the slot 53 engages the stud 55 and the slot 52 becomes disengaged from the stud 54. As is well known, in machines of the type to which the present invention is applied, the automatic carriage tabulation is effected near the end of the operation of the machine, thus causing the shift of the arm 41 at the very end of the operation. Therefore, upon subsequent operation of the machine the bichrome ribbon 60 is raised into proper position for the printing of characters in a distinctive color. When the carriage 16 (Figs. 1 and 2) is returned from left to right, the flexible tappet 14 is not effective, and the color shifting mechanism remains in its normal position, as shown in Fig. 3.

Hand operated ribbon shifting mechanism Referring to Fig. l, mechanism for shifting the ribbon by hand is also shown. For a detailed illustration of this hand operated shifting mechanism, see Fig. 5 of the Patent No. 1,609,168, issued to Perkins on December '7, 1926. An arm 8| is pinned to the shaft 62. A link 82 connects the arm 8| to a shifting lever 83 pivotally connected to the tabulating frame which has two right-angle ears 84 and 85 engaged by two color shifting buttons (not shown) mounted in the machine case.

pressed it engages ear 82, arm 8|, and shaft 62 the spring 63 is rocked towards the rear of the machine (Fig. l) or clockwise (Fig. 3). As explained above, this causes the slot 53 in shifting arm 41 to engage the stud 55, and upon subsequent operation of the machine, the ribbon will be lifted to its highest position and the type will contact the lower half of the ribbon to print characters of a distinctive color. The ribbon may be restored to its normal printing position by pressing the button that engages ear 84. The link 82 has two notches (not shown) cut on the lower edge, one of which engages a stud 86 carried by the left side frame, for each position of the ribbon shifting mechanism to retain the mechanism in the desired position. See patent to Perkins referred to above for a more detailed description of this manual ribbon shifting mechanism.

Ribbon restoring mechanism At the end of each operation of the machine the ribbon is automatically restored to its normal, or black printing position in the following manner. A lever 81 (Figs. 2 and 3) pivoted on a stud 89 carried by the right side plate (not shown), has a slot 98 that cooperates with a stud 9! on the arm 42. As explained above, the arm 42 is rocked each time the machine is operated and the lever 81 rocks in unison therewith, the first movement being clockwise as viewed in Fi 3.

A flexible latch 92 (Fig. 2) pivots and slides on a stud 93 on the setting link 61, the stud 93 extending through an elongated slot 94 in the latch. A spring 95 is stretched between a stud carried by the setting link 61 and an ear 96 formed on the latch 92. The action of spring 95 tends to hold the ear 96 against the setting link 61 and also pulls the latch 92 towards the rear of the machine so that the forward end of the elongated slot 94 is normally held against the stud 93.

When the setting link 61 has been forced towards the rear of the machine, to the eft as viewed in Fig. 2, by the action of the traveling carriage and its connecting mechanism, as explained above, the lever 81 on its first movement will pass the left end of the latch after the same has been moved to the rear of the machine, and when the lever 81 receives its final clockwise movement (as viewed in Fig. 2), it will pick up said latch 92 and will carry the setting link 61 towards the front of the machine to the position shown in Fig. 2, thus restoring the ribbon shifting mechanism to its normal position at the end of each operation of the machine.

In case the traveling carriage is left in a position wherein the tappet 14 remains in contact with roller 13, thus blocking the return of setting link 61, the lever 81 will carry the latch 92 for- Ward, the latter sliding upon the stud 93 and the car 96 against the tension of the spring 95. In this manner the latch 92 will move independently of setting link 61 until lever 81, near the end of its homeward travel, passes out of the path of said latch 92, which latch is then returned to its position of rest against the stud 93 by the spring 95. For further explanation see the patents referred to above, where the above mechanism is treated at greater length.

Column selecting mechanism It will be understood that the carriage 16 is intended to travel in the direction of the arrow (Fig. 7), and to be arrested in any tabulating position. For the purpose of manually releasing the carriage so that it may move. from one tabulating position to another so that printing may occur in the desired column, there is illustrated in Fig. 7 a depressible-tabulating key I which is normally held in raised position by a spring IOI I tends to rise by the action of a spring I06 connected to it and to the frame of the machine. The upper end of the plungerv I05 serves as a stop to engage any one of the stops I0'I-on the carriage when said plunger is in the raised position shown in Fig. 7.

For automatically releasing the carriage at the end of each machine operation, a tabulating hook I08 (Fig. 4) is carried by the arm 33.

The tabulating lever I 03 has a stud I09 adapted to be engaged by the tabulating hook I08 on each operation of the machine, and this will result in the tabulating lever I03 being pulled down and the lever I04 being turned to elevate the plunger I05, just as would occur were the tabulating key I00 depressed. Consequently on the return stroke of the shaft 32, the tabulating hook I08 will cause tabulation to take place automatically.

Statement of operation .its subscribers pay a fixed rate monthly for seventy-five calls, and five cents each for all calls over seventy-five. Each phone has a register or meter which counts the number of calls made. The calculations of the subscribers accounts take place upon a Work sheet (Fig. 6) which is arranged to take care of the monthly statement of one hundred subscribers, who are listed numerically by telephone or register number in the column headed Telephone or register number. Opposite his register number and in a column headed Present reading, the subscriber's register reading for the present month is entered by hand.

In the case illustrated let us assume this is a statement for the month of February at the Garfield exchange of telephone or register numbers ranging'from 3800 to 3899. A permanent record of the subscribers account is kept upon a Ledger card (Fig. 5) arranged to take care of monthly statements over a period of one year, there being one such card for each subscriber. In the case illustrated, the Ledger card is for the telephone or register number 3801 at the Garfield" exchange, and the minimum number of calls allowed by this contract without extra charge is seventy-five.

The operator first places the Work sheet in the accounting machine. The Ledger card for the first telephone number (3800) is placed beside the Work sheet and so arranged as to have the month (February) on the Ledger card in line with the proper telephone number (3800) on the "Work sheet. The operator then proceeds with the calculation of that particular account. When finished with one account, the "Work sheet" is fed upward to the next number (3801), the Ledger card for 3800 is replaced by the Ledger card for 3801, and the calculation of the 3801 account is begun, a sequence of which will now be given.

The present meter reading of 150 for the number 3801 for the month of February, taken from the "Work sheet, is added into the totalizer of the machine and printed simultaneously upon the Ledger card in the column headed Register reading". The carriage is then tabulated to the left to a column on the Work sheet under the title of Previous reading", and here the previous monthly reading of 100, found on the "Ledger card, is subtracted from the present reading of 150, and printed upon the Work sheet. The carriage is again tabulated to the left to a column on the Work sheet" headed Gross usage, here a reading is taken of the totalizer, and the difference (50) between the previous and present reading is printed upon the "Work sheet". The carriage is again tabulated to the left to a non-print position and while moving to such non-print position the mechanism controlling the bichrome ribbon is shifted by the means explained above to a position whereupon the next operation of the machine characters of a distinctive color, say red, will be printed, Since the gross usage for-the number 3801 for the month of February is less than 75, there is no work to be done in this non-print position, as the subscriber has not exceeded his minimum allowance of '75 calls. The carriage is therefore returned to a column on the Ledger card headed Gross or additional calls, and in a total taking operation performed at this time, the gross number of calls (50) is printed in a distinctive color, say red, as indicated in Fig. 5.

Again considering the carriage in position to print in the column on the Work sheet headed Gross usage", upon taking a sub-total the difference between the previous and present register reading is found to be more than the minimum of 75, for example say 95, as shown by the March statement on the Ledger card. The carriage is tabulated to the left to the non-print position, and as before, the ribbon is automatically conditioned for printing in a distinctive color. As the minimum calls allowed has been exceeded, it is necessary for the operator in a non-print op eration to subtract the minimum 75 from the gross usage of 95. During this non-print operation, the bichrome ribbon is restored to its normal or black printing position. The carriage is now returned to the column on the Ledger card headed Gross or additional calls, and in a total-taking operation the difference between 75 and 95 (20) will be printed upon the "Ledger card" in black.

In this manner the additional calls will be '1. In a calculating machine of the class described, the combination of a printing means; multi-color inking means for said printing means; main operating mechanism for the machine; automatic means for shifting said inking means to causeprintlng of an item in a distinguishing color during a predetermined operation of the machine; and automatic means operated by the main operating mechanism during the next succeeding operation 01' the machine for restoring said inking means to a normal position.

2. In a calculating machine of the class described, the combination of a printing means; a shiftable bichrome inking ribbon means for the printing means; a movable carriage; a tappet mounted thereon, said tappet adapted when passing a certain point in the travel of the carriage to shift the bichrome ribbon means to cause the printing of items in a distinguishing color during the next succeeding operation of the machine, regardless of the position of the carriage or tappet during such succeeding operation; and automatic means for restoring the bichrome ribbon means to a normal position during such succeeding operation.

3. In a calculating machine of the class described, the combination of a printing means; a bi-color inking means therefor; a shifting means for the inking means; a movable carriage; a flexibly mounted tappet on the carriage, said tappet adapted to engage the shifting means for the bi-color inking means when the carriage passes through a certain point in its travel, thereby causing an item to be printed in a distinguishing color during the next operation of the machine regardless of the position in which the carriage is arrested; and automatic restoring means for the inking means.

4. In a calculating machine of the class described, the combination of a printing means; a bichrome ribbon means therefor; a shifting means forshifting the bichrome ribbon means to an abnormal inking position; a laterally traveling carriage; a pivoting arm adapted to engage and shift the bichrome ribbon shifting means; and a flexible tappet mounted on the carriage, effective when the carriage travels in a pre-determined direction to engage the pivoting arm to cause the printing of a selected item in a distinctive color during the next succeeding operation regardless of where the carriage is arrested during such movement.

5. In a calculating machine of the class described, the combination of a'printing means; a bichrome ribbon 'mking means therefor having normal and abnormal inking positions; means for shifting the bichrome ribbon to its abnormal ink'ng position; a laterally traveling carriage; a flexible tappet mounted thereon, effective when the carriage travels in a selected direction; a pivoting arm adapted to be engaged by the flexible tappet; a stud in said arm adapted to engage the bichrome ribbon shifting means to shift the ribbon to its abnormal position thereby causing the printing of an item in a distinctive color; and means for automatically restoring the bichrome inking means to its normal inking position dur-. ing the next succeeding operation of the machine.

6. In a calculating machine of the class described, the combination of a printing means; a vibrating bichrome ribbon means having normal and abnormal inking positions; automatic means to shift the ribbon to its abnormal position, said automalic means including a laterally traveling carriage; a flexible tappet mounted thereon, effective when the carriage travels in a selected direction; an arm, a projection thereon adapted to be engaged by the flexible tappet, and a second projection on said arm adapted to engage a member on the ribbon shifting mechanismto cause the bichrome ribbon inking means to be shifted to its abnormal position so that an item will be printed in a distinctive color; and automatic means for restoring the bichrome ribbon inking means to its normal inking position during the next succeedng operation of the machine.

7. In a machine of the class described, the combination of a two-color printing ribbon, a vibrating mechanism, column selecting mechanism, and means controlled by the column selecting mechanism, to automatically control the vibrating'mechanism to cause printing from either color in the same column of record material.

, 8. In a machine of the class described, the combination of a two-color printing ribbon, a vibrating mechanism. a shiftable carriage for record material for columnar printing, means to automatically control the vibrating mechanism to cause printing from either color in the same column of the record material, and means on the carriage to control the automatic means.

9. In a machine of the class described, the combination of a two-color printing ribbon, a vibrating mechanism, means to automatically control the vibrating mechanism to print from either color, a shiftable record material carriage to position the material for columnar printing, and means on the carriage to control the automatic means to shift from one color to the other effective during one operation of the machine to change the color printing during the next operation regardless of the position of the carriage.

10. In a calculating machine of the class described, the combination of a printing means; a two-colored inking means for the printing means, having a normal and a shifted position; a movable carriage adapted when moved to a certain one of its positions during a machine operation, to control the inking means whereby it is shifted out of normal position during the next succeeding operation of the machine to cause the item to be printed in a distinctive color during such succeeding operation regardless to which position the carriage is shifted during such succeeding operation; and automatic means for restoring the inking means to normal position during such succeeding operation.

11. In a calculating machine of the class described, the combination of printing means; a vibrating multi-color ribbon adapted tobe shifted to a plurality of printing positions; shifting means for the ribbon; a traveling carriage; means, operated by the traveling carriage when passing through a certain position, to condition the shifting means to cause the multi-color ribbon to shift to one printing position during a subsequent calculating operation of the machine; and automatic means to condition the shifting means to shift the multi-color ribbon to another printing position during said subsequent calculating operation, regardless of the position in which the carriage is arrested after passing through said certain position.

12. In a calculating machine of the class described, the combination of a printing means; a bi-color inking ribbon therefor; a shifting means for normally shifting the ribbon to a certain color position during a calculating operation; and a movable carriage adapted to condition the ribbon shifting means while traveling in one direction only, to cause an item to be printed in a distinguishing color during one succeeding calculating operation, regardless of the position of the carriage.

RAYMOND A. CHRISTIAN. 

